Over the years, motion picture cameras such as video and movie cameras have become smaller and lighter, enabling users to move and position such cameras in more imaginative ways. For example, video and movie film camera operators have been able to film subjects while following them on foot or in moving vehicles. However, moving a hand-held video or movie camera during operation tends to impart a certain amount of unwanted vibration or other unsteady movement to the camera, which is of course recorded on the film or videotape. In order to address this problem, various types of camera holding and steadying devices, such as hand grips and shoulder mounts, have been developed, but these devices have their drawbacks. The Steadicam.TM. system, utilizing an exoskeletal vest and a dampening arm connected thereto, greatly improves camera mobility, in that it allows an operator to tilt, pan and crane a camera in a relatively steady fashion, while being moved about by the operator during operation. However, the Steadicam system is very complex and costly, and the Steadicam operator's mobility remains somewhat limited.
There is accordingly a continuing need for a low-cost device for positioning hand-held motion picture cameras, such as video cameras and moving film cameras, in a steady fashion, as the camera is operated, particularly when the operator moves about.